CHAPTER XVI--IN WHICH WILL BE FOUND THE WORDS TO AN ENGLISH AIR WHICHWAS IN FASHION IN 1832

  Marius seated himself on his bed. It might have been half-past fiveo'clock. Only half an hour separated him from what was about to happen.He heard the beating of his arteries as one hears the ticking of a watchin the dark. He thought of the double march which was going on at thatmoment in the dark,--crime advancing on one side, justice coming up onthe other. He was not afraid, but he could not think without a shudderof what was about to take place. As is the case with all those who aresuddenly assailed by an unforeseen adventure, the entire day producedupon him the effect of a dream, and in order to persuade himself that hewas not the prey of a nightmare, he had to feel the cold barrels of thesteel pistols in his trousers pockets.

  It was no longer snowing; the moon disengaged itself more and moreclearly from the mist, and its light, mingled with the white reflectionof the snow which had fallen, communicated to the chamber a sort oftwilight aspect.

  There was a light in the Jondrette den. Marius saw the hole in the wallshining with a reddish glow which seemed bloody to him.

  It was true that the light could not be produced by a candle. However,there was not a sound in the Jondrette quarters, not a soul was movingthere, not a soul speaking, not a breath; the silence was glacial andprofound, and had it not been for that light, he might have thoughthimself next door to a sepulchre.

  Marius softly removed his boots and pushed them under his bed.

  Several minutes elapsed. Marius heard the lower door turn on its hinges;a heavy step mounted the staircase, and hastened along the corridor; thelatch of the hovel was noisily lifted; it was Jondrette returning.

  Instantly, several voices arose. The whole family was in the garret.Only, it had been silent in the master's absence, like wolf whelps inthe absence of the wolf.

  "It's I," said he.

  "Good evening, daddy," yelped the girls.

  "Well?" said the mother.

  "All's going first-rate," responded Jondrette, "but my feet are beastlycold. Good! You have dressed up. You have done well! You must inspireconfidence."

  "All ready to go out."

  "Don't forget what I told you. You will do everything sure?"

  "Rest easy."

  "Because--" said Jondrette. And he left the phrase unfinished.

  Marius heard him lay something heavy on the table, probably the chiselwhich he had purchased.

  "By the way," said Jondrette, "have you been eating here?"

  "Yes," said the mother. "I got three large potatoes and some salt. Itook advantage of the fire to cook them."

  "Good," returned Jondrette. "To-morrow I will take you out to dine withme. We will have a duck and fixings. You shall dine like Charles theTenth; all is going well!"

  Then he added:--

  "The mouse-trap is open. The cats are there."

  He lowered his voice still further, and said:--

  "Put this in the fire."

  Marius heard a sound of charcoal being knocked with the tongs or someiron utensil, and Jondrette continued:--

  "Have you greased the hinges of the door so that they will not squeak?"

  "Yes," replied the mother.

  "What time is it?"

  "Nearly six. The half-hour struck from Saint-Médard a while ago."

  "The devil!" ejaculated Jondrette; "the children must go and watch. Comeyou, do you listen here."

  A whispering ensued.

  Jondrette's voice became audible again:--

  "Has old Bougon left?"

  "Yes," said the mother.

  "Are you sure that there is no one in our neighbor's room?"

  "He has not been in all day, and you know very well that this is hisdinner hour."

  "You are sure?"

  "Sure."

  "All the same," said Jondrette, "there's no harm in going to see whetherhe is there. Here, my girl, take the candle and go there."

  Marius fell on his hands and knees and crawled silently under his bed.

  Hardly had he concealed himself, when he perceived a light through thecrack of his door.

  "P'pa," cried a voice, "he is not in here."

  He recognized the voice of the eldest daughter.

  "Did you go in?" demanded her father.

  "No," replied the girl, "but as his key is in the door, he must be out."

  The father exclaimed:--

  "Go in, nevertheless."

  The door opened, and Marius saw the tall Jondrette come in with a candlein her hand. She was as she had been in the morning, only still morerepulsive in this light.

  She walked straight up to the bed. Marius endured an indescribablemoment of anxiety; but near the bed there was a mirror nailed to thewall, and it was thither that she was directing her steps. She raisedherself on tiptoe and looked at herself in it. In the neighboring room,the sound of iron articles being moved was audible.

  She smoothed her hair with the palm of her hand, and smiled into themirror, humming with her cracked and sepulchral voice:--

  Nos amours ont duré toute une semaine, Mais que du bonheur les instants sont courts! S'adorer huit jours, c'était bien la peine! Le temps des amours devrait durer toujours! Devrait durer toujours! devrait durer toujours!28

  In the meantime, Marius trembled. It seemed impossible to him that sheshould not hear his breathing.

  She stepped to the window and looked out with the half-foolish way shehad.

  "How ugly Paris is when it has put on a white chemise!" said she.

  She returned to the mirror and began again to put on airs before it,scrutinizing herself full-face and three-quarters face in turn.

  "Well!" cried her father, "what are you about there?"

  "I am looking under the bed and the furniture," she replied, continuingto arrange her hair; "there's no one here."

  "Booby!" yelled her father. "Come here this minute! And don't waste anytime about it!"

  "Coming! Coming!" said she. "One has no time for anything in thishovel!"

  She hummed:--

  Vous me quittez pour aller à la gloire; Mon triste cour suivra partout.29

  She cast a parting glance in the mirror and went out, shutting the doorbehind her.

  A moment more, and Marius heard the sound of the two young girls' barefeet in the corridor, and Jondrette's voice shouting to them:--

  "Pay strict heed! One on the side of the barrier, the other at thecorner of the Rue du Petit-Banquier. Don't lose sight for a moment ofthe door of this house, and the moment you see anything, rush here onthe instant! as hard as you can go! You have a key to get in."

  The eldest girl grumbled:--

  "The idea of standing watch in the snow barefoot!"

  "To-morrow you shall have some dainty little green silk boots!" said thefather.

  They ran down stairs, and a few seconds later the shock of the outerdoor as it banged to announced that they were outside.

  There now remained in the house only Marius, the Jondrettes andprobably, also, the mysterious persons of whom Marius had caught aglimpse in the twilight, behind the door of the unused attic.